3/15/2015

I decided not to trace the Locobox delay after all. Seeing how the circuit most probably resembles other Japanese BBD (MN3005) delays from the era, for which schematics abound. I expect some 'delay-aficionados' will want to know exactly what makes a certain box tick and how it differs from others. In this case there seems to be a lot of rebranded releases of the same PCB..I'm not one of those guys. I do love delays, just not the hype surrounding certain models. It's just not very interesting from a circuit design standpoint either, considering how noisy it is. Some of the noise can probably be attributed to ageing components and damaged semiconductors, but that isn't likely to be the only source. I'm guessing the effect is inherently noisy, and fixing that would require quite invasive modifications, lowering second hand price for the afficionados who want their vintage stuff original..So this one goes back to the customer mostly unchanged and untraced.

The TS9DX DC jack was intermittent, fixed by having the joints re-soldered, so it was an easy repair. It's interesting to see how boardmounted hardware in theory shouldn't be any more susceptible to mechanical stress and damage than 'off board'-wired, but in theory this just doesn't seem to be the case. I guess tolerances explain most of it, but it makes me wonder.Also, interesting to see the "Stinkfoot" mods, performed in 2004-09-11? Hej Andreas!

3/05/2015

A friend of mine asked me to fix his '"Locobox" Analog Delay' and a 'Ibanez TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer'. I rarely come across pedals I haven't already heard of but the "Locobox" brand is all new to me. It's apparently a somewhat obscure Japanese brand. This particular model is probably 1970's vintage. I just might trace the circuit but I'm already pretty sure it'll be very close, if not identical to other Japanese brands from the era. We'll see.